In a robbery case in which multiple men broke into a luxury watch store in Ginza, Tokyo on the 8th and robbed it, it was found that a bag containing about 30 watches believed to be damaged items had been confiscated near the site where the getaway vehicle was abandoned.
More than 100 watches are suspected of being stolen from the store, so the Metropolitan Police Department is checking them.

Shortly after 8 p.m. on the 6th, multiple men wearing white masks broke into a luxury watch store along the main street of Ginza in Tokyo, threatened the clerk with a knife, stole the merchandise, and fled by car.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested four people between the ages of 16 and 19 in Yokohama City on suspicion of breaking into an apartment building in Akasaka, Tokyo, near where the pursued car was abandoned.

The four included a high school student, who denied the charges and the other three admitted to the charges.

Subsequent investigations revealed that bags containing about 4 wristwatches believed to be damaged had been confiscated from shrubbery near the apartment building where the four men were arrested.

More than 4 watches are suspected of being stolen from the store, so the Metropolitan Police Department is checking them.

In addition, several white masks similar to those used in the Ginza robbery were confiscated from near the abandoned car.

The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the suspicion that the four men were also involved in the robbery, and since the clothes at the time of their arrest are different from those worn by the men in the robbery case, they are suspecting that they changed clothes after the incident, and are investigating the relationship between the four people.

【What we have found so far】

The escape route is

According to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, the incident occurred at a luxury watch store in Ginza, Tokyo around 8:6 p.m. on the 15th. The men got into a van parked in front of the store and fled northeast along Chuo Street.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department found the escaped van at 6:29 p.m. near Nagatacho 1-chome, Chiyoda-ku, near the National Diet Building.

When we started the chase, the van passed in front of the National Diet Building and the National Diet Library before heading to the Akasaka-Mitsuke intersection.

About one minute after starting the chase, I lost sight of the van once near Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, but a few minutes later, at 4:6 pm, I found an abandoned van at Akasaka 33-chome.

Four people were arrested at a nearby apartment building.

In Tokyo, robberies are one after another, mainly in the downtown area.

Robberies have been occurring one after another in Tokyo, and a total of 2 robberies have occurred since February after a series of wide-area robberies have been settled.

The outbreak occurred mainly in downtown areas such as Shibuya, Omotesando, and Ikebukuro, where stores are densely populated and many people come and go, and in Ueno, precious metal stores and other stores were damaged for three consecutive months from March to May.

Case that hides the face stands out Security camera measures?

April Robbery scene at an accessory store in Shibuya

In these cases, there are notable cases of suspects breaking in with their faces hidden.

In the robberies of a precious metal store in Ueno in March and an accessory store in Shibuya in April, men wore balaclavas, and in the case of robberies of goods at a precious metal store in Ueno in May, the suspect wore a full-face helmet.

In many robberies, the footage from security cameras installed in and around the store is a powerful clue, so it can be seen that the crime is committed on the premise that there are security cameras.

Luxury watches tend to be targeted

March Robbery scene at a precious metal store in Ueno

Another characteristic of a series of incidents is that luxury watches tend to be targeted.

In the robbery that occurred at a precious metal store in Ueno in March, about 3 watches worth 45 million yen were stolen, and in the same incident in April in Ueno, watches and other items were robbed at a brand-name goods purchase store.

Looking at the whole country, in the robbery case of Kyoto City in May last year, more than 1 luxury watches, worth about 4 million yen, were stolen from stores, and there are notable cases where specific brands that are traded at high prices are affected.

There is also "sloppiness" in the crime

While the recent incident in Ginza has similarities with a series of incidents during this time, it also has features that have never been seen before.

[Length of crime]
It is known that the perpetrators stayed in the store for about 10 minutes.
In robbery cases, the longer you are at the scene, the greater the risk of police investigations, so there are relatively many cases where people rob cash or goods in two or three minutes and run away.


In addition, in the downtown area of Ginza, people passing by outside the store witnessed the crime inside the store through the glass, and continued to rob the products openly, which was also a feature not seen in other incidents.

A van fleeing the scene

Witnesses were filming the whole thing with their smartphones, and many videos were posted on social media.

Robberies that occur one after another.

However, in many cases, the suspect was identified in the subsequent investigation and the perpetrator was arrested.

Regarding the modus operandi of this case, the investigative officer pointed out, "In the midst of the crowded streets of the city center, it is obvious that such a bold crime will be arrested.